Podcast 81: Designing My First House + how to revamp your space (on a budget)

Hello hello, and welcome to Episode 81 of Life On the Brink!

So remember last fall when Josh and I bought a house?! It’s crazy, but it happened. But then the holidays also happened, and while we have been making slow changes behind the scenes, it’s about to get real over the next few months.

I have a vision for this home, and while I can’t see it completely, I’m slowly watching this house become closer to my dream and it’s so exciting! Today I’m sharing not only some of our home updates, but also taking you through my current design process.

Whether you’re in the middle of a move like me, or maybe you’re just uninspired by one of your spaces and want to change it up, I’ve got you.

*Also, if you need some renter-specific ideas, check out Episode 28 all about it.*

What’s in my teacup? The Monk's Blend from Jolene's Tea House. So yummy!

---

Very in-between, but you can see the vision!

Over the past few years, I’ve sort of landed on this theory that can apply to home renovation, but to much much more. It looks like this:

Pick 2: Energy vs Money vs Quality

1. The amount of time or effort you must expend

2. The amount of money you spend

3. The quality of the result

For example, when it comes to cooking, I will gladly expend plenty of time and energy in the kitchen to have a delicious and quality meal for less money than dining out. I’m not saying it’s a better choice, that’s just my priority.

When renovating and furnishing a home, I’ve found that you can often have 2 out of these 3, sometimes only 1, but it’s rare to get all three (a good quality result that’s cheap and easy).

I share this theory just because I think it’s important when approaching a big project to know what your priorities are. Of course, they can change in specific scenarios, but I have found that generally I want to save money, which means I tend to oscillate between prioritizing energy and quality.

A note: I’m not suggesting that sacrificing on quality means something is trash, it just might not be the exact item you envisioned, or exactly the way it looked on Instagram. In many cases, you can get the desired effect for less money (like the Anthropologie dupes), but that is your priority to consider, your choice to make.

We painted and laid the flooring, bought a gently-used bed, and it's transformed this bedroom already.

So, once you keep these three factors in mind, where do you begin?

Enter: the mood board. For me, this is Pinterest. For a big project like a house or a wedding, I can’t recommend Pinterest enough. Here’s why!

Once you start pinning things, the algorithm of Pinterest will recommend similar posts, and soon you’ll have a feed of houses that are beautiful to you that you can choose to save. Don’t think about it too much, just save things that inspire you, that you like even if you can’t explain why. Sometimes I’ll save them to specific boards, divided by room type like “bathroom,” “kitchen,” etc.

*Here are my own home inspiration boards on Pinterest.*

-Casa

-Baño

-Dormiorio

-Cocina

A bit of my current inspiration.

Then! After you’ve got a nice collection going, go back and look for common themes in your boards. Do you gravitate to a specific color? A design style? How do they make you feel?

Do you find that you like more minimalistic spaces because it makes you feel calm? Check out your commonalities because they’ll help guide your choices later.

For example: I’ve noticed that I gravitate to green and warm browns a lot, I love very busy gallery walls, and basically want books everywhere.

Now, you can also find and collect inspiration from other places. Maybe you make a Saved collection of spaces you like on Instagram, or you can save pages from actual books or magazines. I just find the format of Pinterest to be incredibly helpful.

Furnishing on a budget: here are a few of my suggestions. I go into more detail in the podcast episode, but I’ve left links so you can access them here.

-Facebook Marketplace. Be cautious when meeting up or sending money to strangers, but this has been an absolute goldmine for me over the years.

-Consignment and thrift shops. Locally on the East Shore we have the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which is basically a thrift store for furniture, and it’s a great resource. Check out your local spots!

-Estate sales and flea markets. It’s a bit of a treasure hunt, but that’s part of the fun of it! It’s also a sure way to end up with completely unique pieces, which gives your home a cozy “collected” feel. Check out this site to find estate sales near you (U.S. only).

-Try samples of paint, wallpaper, fabric, etc. if you’re afraid of commitment. After getting brave enough to make one large wall in our great room/dining room space GREEN, I ended up trying three different green paints before finding the right one. For only $5 at Lowe’s, it was a worthy investment.

Carrying away a dining set without a truck.

Keeping your sanity: remember this, my friend.

Making a home is a long process. There will be unexpected challenges and things you can’t control (talking to myself here), but that is totally ok.

If you know what your priorities are and have some kind of vision for your home, just be patient with yourself. Be flexible when you need to be. Take it one thing at a time. Keep your focus small but your perspective big. This is your home and it’s a big change, but your life is still happening now!

Imagine your completed space, perfectly decorated and clean, maybe at Christmastime. What are you doing in that dream? What does your home feel like?

These kinds of questions will not only keep you working toward that goal, but also give you permission to foster that sense of home even now, whatever it may look like.

My Own House Update

At this point in my new house we have:

-painted the master bedroom and replaced the carpet with laminate flooring.

-the living room and staircase is painted and the wallpaper in the dining room is about ⅔ done.

-We (and our families who love us) have basically cleaned the whole of the house and

-We’ve begun moving our things from the apartment to the house.

The hope is to actually move and be living in the house in the next few weeks, and I’ll be sure to update!

Whatever home looks like to you right now, I invite us all to dream for the future and to just enjoy today.

---

This Week’s Little Joy: Though last week definitely brought some unexpected challenges, this was a fun moment that took me by surprise! I got a last-minute call from my old jazz professor at my alma mater, asking if I’d like to fill in for an alumni jazz concert, and I did! I rarely get to play a grand piano or play with a big band, and it was really cool to meet other players from different eras of the music department. I felt good about my big solo, and enjoy feeling like I’ve grown in the few years since I’ve graduated. All in all, a lovely Friday night, and something that I could never have seen coming.

What I’m Listening To: In the spirit of jazz and “college Anna,” I present to you: Jazz List. This is a playlist I made in 2016 to help me study for a big test that basically required me to memorize 40+ jazz tunes and play on cue (this is what finals week looked like in the music department, it’s amazing). I listened to this playlist nonstop for weeks (and did indeed pass the test), but it’s still such a good mix of classic American jazz. A lot is bebop, but some of the recordings are just because I like that particular rendition. If you want some quintessential jazz, here’s your list.

Thank you so much for listening!

Feel free to reach out with questions or episode ideas, or follow me over on Instagram to keep up with upcoming podcasts.

Have a lovely week, friend!